Well Sunday we came home from Grand Rapids - AWESOME time and got to see all the grand parents up there and have a fish fry dinner and spend some good quality time with family!! Elsie's Grandma & Grandpa Hunt travel to Arizona for the winter (too bad for them right?!?) and we wanted to see them before they leave November 20th! It was such a great time.
Elsie seemed a little irritable and quiet Sunday night at home - not her usual. So we checked her temperature. She was 101.3 when we checked her! No symptoms just the fever. So we gave her ibuprofen. At this point she's on the Dexcom system and for SOME reason Acetaminophen interacts with the sensor for some reason and it can give false high blood glucose readings (meaning her sugars are in fact not nearly as high as the Dexcom says they are) so we have opted for no Tylenol just to be on the safe side and the only real cause for pain as of late was her teeth and ibuprofen worked better for that anyway. So we gave it to her and she seemed OK - VERY lazy and cuddly on Monday. Fever staying around 102.5ish even with ibuprofen. So her fever kept creeping and it was bedtime and she wasn't due for medicine for 3 more hours and her temperature was 102.7 We opted to buy Tylenol and give it to her - I think that false high readings were an understatement!! The Dexcom said she was off the chart high (over 400) which I assure you she was NOT - it was crazy never seen anything like it!!
Last night reminded us why we stopped alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen every three hours for Elsie - something about it makes her miserable!! I think it makes her feel like that medicine head feeling... She was up whining about every 2 hours sometimes more than that!! It was awful!! I felt horrible for her we both did!! So off to the doctor today - and of course, NOTHING to report!! Ears look good a little fluid (to be expected) not a whole lot of drainage (some to be expected) lymph nodes not too swollen - JUST this pretty substantial fever with no major symptoms. Apparently this is NOT the first case to walk through our doctors doors either - so he wasn't freaked out (moms on the other hand are super confused and freaked) We are coming up on 24 hours of this fever that won't break and a daughter that is really showing no signs of anything wrong - she's just a little lazy which is out of character.
So tonight she finally (we think) broke this damn thing! She had very little ibuprofen today. She basically refused it and we are thinking it was her way of saying - let me fight this off myself... So we allowed it to happen kept monitoring the fever every few hours or so and she went to bed FEVER FREE - first time in two days!!! Tomorrow I am going to be lysoling the house again - to get rid of any crazy resilient little virus cells!! We are going to be a healthy household again!! Elsie's friend Rowland can come back and play!! Life will get back our crazy form of normalcy.
As with any sickness she will come across her blood sugars will be a sure sign something is going on. She ran with high sugars that didn't seem to make sense before the fever started (I even thought about needing to change her basal insulin rate), then was running a little lower than her normal once it came on, then stayed a little high the whole time. With her appetite not being great higher sugars are actually good it means that we can give her insulin which is a growth hormone and helps her fight off infections naturally in her body. We are very proud we made it through this little bout of sickness without needing to call our diabetic educator. We handled it like pros!! I think Noreen would be proud!!
Thank you to everyone who prayed for Elsie to get better and/or sent well wishes to her!! They were needed and they have helped!! Hoping to have our sweet little lady back tomorrow!!
P.S. Elsie kissed my belly (kissed the baby) today for the first time - I think she's starting to grow on the idea of the baby!! The girls at the doctors office asked her if it was a boy or girl (she said boy - we don't know yet FYI) and they asked what "his" name is and she said "Go Home" haha!! She's hilarious!!
Take care!
McKenzie, Sarah, Elsie & Baby too!!
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Fall Season & Loving it!!
We had an appointment in August and we discovered that her A1c was 8.3 which is slightly up from the July reading BUT all in all its still amazing for her age!! Kids her age are usually running an A1c of at least 9-10%. So we're doing amazing and she's developing amazing and she's growing like a weed!! She grew 2 inches in 4 months!! That's crazy!!
Insulin is also growth hormone normally made within your body and without her body producing it for her. Which is why it is important for us to NOT cut carbs out of her diet, and be sure to give her carbs so that we have to give her insulin so that her body is getting the nutrients it needs to grow!! She is such a lively and spontaneous little girl!!
This past weekend was the Fall Harvest Festival at our local apple orchard, and Elsie LOVED picking apples (and eating them too!!) She pushed the wagon, carried the basket of apples and even took a rest in the wagon... we went on a hayride and saw the pumpkin patch and all the apple trees! She had so much fun!! Love making new memories with her and family!!
Last night was a special night, she slept in her BIG GIRL bed for the first time. She has been sleeping all through the night now so we were nervous that a new bed would change that. Well she helped make the bed, helped decide which babies and stuffed animals were on the bed, and she climbed in at bedtime and rolled right over and went to sleep. We didn't hear a peep out of her. She woke up a little bit when we checked her sugar before we went to bed but told us "more sleep" and went back to sleep! I checked on her at about 9:15am and she was laying in her bed with her eyes open and told me "I'm up" and got up and its been a great day so far!! She's going to be a GREAT big sister!!
SO proud and happy she's growing up but she seriously needs to slow down!! Her beauty and personality amazes us every day!! We are so thankful to be called her moms!!
Take care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie too!!
Insulin is also growth hormone normally made within your body and without her body producing it for her. Which is why it is important for us to NOT cut carbs out of her diet, and be sure to give her carbs so that we have to give her insulin so that her body is getting the nutrients it needs to grow!! She is such a lively and spontaneous little girl!!
This past weekend was the Fall Harvest Festival at our local apple orchard, and Elsie LOVED picking apples (and eating them too!!) She pushed the wagon, carried the basket of apples and even took a rest in the wagon... we went on a hayride and saw the pumpkin patch and all the apple trees! She had so much fun!! Love making new memories with her and family!!
Last night was a special night, she slept in her BIG GIRL bed for the first time. She has been sleeping all through the night now so we were nervous that a new bed would change that. Well she helped make the bed, helped decide which babies and stuffed animals were on the bed, and she climbed in at bedtime and rolled right over and went to sleep. We didn't hear a peep out of her. She woke up a little bit when we checked her sugar before we went to bed but told us "more sleep" and went back to sleep! I checked on her at about 9:15am and she was laying in her bed with her eyes open and told me "I'm up" and got up and its been a great day so far!! She's going to be a GREAT big sister!!
SO proud and happy she's growing up but she seriously needs to slow down!! Her beauty and personality amazes us every day!! We are so thankful to be called her moms!!
Take care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie too!!
Sunday, August 17, 2014
How to act...
We are writing this to first let off a little frustration and also to help people help us. This is not easy to say or ask and we know everyone supports and loves us and will understand where we are coming from... So thank you in advance...
I think that there are a lot of people out there who seem to think that since Elsie is doing so well and is a healthy happy baby girl! People seem to think they can offer Elsie food (of any variety) without asking if its okay to do so first. Yes it may be true that a tiny bite of something isn't going to affect her sugar - BUT when that tiny bite is a spoonful of chocolate or something that is ALL sugar even the smallest bite will affect her. There are certain things that she eats that take longer to affect sugar but almost EVERYTHING has carbs and we have to account for all the carbs she eats in order to keep her glucose levels as well maintained as we do.
I guess what we are saying is that as I hope you would ANY child you come in contact with, ASK their parents before feeding them. You never know what allergies kids may have or if they have to count carbs too!! I would never give a child food without making sure it was okay with mom/dad first. I hope our friends and family can do the same.
The unfortunate thing with diabetes is that we HAVE to measure everything Elsie eats - we carry measuring cups in our diaper bag for goodness sakes!! For the record there is NOTHING Elsie cannot eat, but we HAVE to know how many carbs are in whatever it is that she eats. This is honestly the most stressful part of diabetes and being a parent of one. We have become fairly good at memorizing the carb count in foods that Elsie frequently eats and so a lot of times if someone asks us if she can have something 9 times out of 10 we'll know how much of that is how many carbs etc...
There are also times as mothers that we generally do NOT want Elsie to eat things. At 8:00pm or later SUGAR of any form is not something we are OK with her eating, its bedtime and its not necessary. I understand that people like to treat Elsie and I want nothing more than for you to do so! BUT ask first is all we are saying.
This is NO way is meant to anyone in particular - this has happened on SO many occasions that we felt it was necessary to say something HOPING all those important to us read this and will take note.
This disease IS serious. I know that many may feel that its NOT life threatening and its MANAGEABLE, which it is. But counting carbs and giving insulin is how we are managing this. its not an easy thing and it takes a lot of trial and error and all those errors can get scary. If we ever miscalculate carbs and cover for too many we can cause Elsie to get a very low sugar. Elsie is TOO young to tell us that her sugar is dropping fast (someday she'll be able to feel that change and notify us herself) now we have to HOPE that this DEXCOM will alert us when she's falling fast and so far we've been able to.
Our job as her parents right now is to avoid lows and avoid ketones. The lows we are avoiding would be a low where Elsie lost consciousness and/or had a seizure... We NEVER want to experience this and hopefully never will!! And ketones are a result of high blood sugar without adequate insulin coverage - this is what caused her to be in Diabetic Ketoacidosis(DKA). This is how she got diagnosed. From any diabetic we've ever talked to DKA is the "worst feeling in the world" and we are thankful that Elsie will NOT remember this feeling and we are hopeful she never will feel it again!!
Thank you for listening and I hope this gives you all a little more insight into this awful disease that we are fighting on a daily basis...
Take care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
I think that there are a lot of people out there who seem to think that since Elsie is doing so well and is a healthy happy baby girl! People seem to think they can offer Elsie food (of any variety) without asking if its okay to do so first. Yes it may be true that a tiny bite of something isn't going to affect her sugar - BUT when that tiny bite is a spoonful of chocolate or something that is ALL sugar even the smallest bite will affect her. There are certain things that she eats that take longer to affect sugar but almost EVERYTHING has carbs and we have to account for all the carbs she eats in order to keep her glucose levels as well maintained as we do.
I guess what we are saying is that as I hope you would ANY child you come in contact with, ASK their parents before feeding them. You never know what allergies kids may have or if they have to count carbs too!! I would never give a child food without making sure it was okay with mom/dad first. I hope our friends and family can do the same.
The unfortunate thing with diabetes is that we HAVE to measure everything Elsie eats - we carry measuring cups in our diaper bag for goodness sakes!! For the record there is NOTHING Elsie cannot eat, but we HAVE to know how many carbs are in whatever it is that she eats. This is honestly the most stressful part of diabetes and being a parent of one. We have become fairly good at memorizing the carb count in foods that Elsie frequently eats and so a lot of times if someone asks us if she can have something 9 times out of 10 we'll know how much of that is how many carbs etc...
There are also times as mothers that we generally do NOT want Elsie to eat things. At 8:00pm or later SUGAR of any form is not something we are OK with her eating, its bedtime and its not necessary. I understand that people like to treat Elsie and I want nothing more than for you to do so! BUT ask first is all we are saying.
This is NO way is meant to anyone in particular - this has happened on SO many occasions that we felt it was necessary to say something HOPING all those important to us read this and will take note.
This disease IS serious. I know that many may feel that its NOT life threatening and its MANAGEABLE, which it is. But counting carbs and giving insulin is how we are managing this. its not an easy thing and it takes a lot of trial and error and all those errors can get scary. If we ever miscalculate carbs and cover for too many we can cause Elsie to get a very low sugar. Elsie is TOO young to tell us that her sugar is dropping fast (someday she'll be able to feel that change and notify us herself) now we have to HOPE that this DEXCOM will alert us when she's falling fast and so far we've been able to.
Our job as her parents right now is to avoid lows and avoid ketones. The lows we are avoiding would be a low where Elsie lost consciousness and/or had a seizure... We NEVER want to experience this and hopefully never will!! And ketones are a result of high blood sugar without adequate insulin coverage - this is what caused her to be in Diabetic Ketoacidosis(DKA). This is how she got diagnosed. From any diabetic we've ever talked to DKA is the "worst feeling in the world" and we are thankful that Elsie will NOT remember this feeling and we are hopeful she never will feel it again!!
Thank you for listening and I hope this gives you all a little more insight into this awful disease that we are fighting on a daily basis...
Take care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Check-Up
We had an awesome birthday party for Elsie on Saturday July 12th!! It was a little rainy at the beginning of the party (right when people were showing up) but we had a clearing and a great turnout many loved ones and friends came and celebrated with Elsie and us!! It was beyond amazing!! She was so busy with playing that we had to open her presents for her she opened a few but then got down and said that she wanted to play. We could not have been more impressed with the outpouring of love that we saw that day!! July 12th will always have a special place in our hearts - it was the day we went in to be induced to have Elsie and it was the day we were diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I say we were diagnosed because at this point it is our life. Right now our family has diabetes - at some point in Elsie's life it will transfer from us to her - and I fear that day that we lose control of diabetes but we trust that Elsie will do her best with it.
So we had an appointment with her doctor (family doctor) on July 14th for a 2 year check up. She weighed 30.1lbs and was 33in tall!! Such a big girl!! Her weight dropped from the 95+ percentile to just above the 75th percentile. It was a long winter folks and we have been moving since the weather got nice!! Elsie absolutely loves to play outside and is full of joy and energy when she does. We are so thankful for the happy healthy baby (not so much a baby anymore) we have!!
JDRF walk is coming up and we've almost made 50% of our goal!! We are doing awesome!! the more money we raise the more money gets donated to finding a cure!!
Tonight when we laid Elsie down for bed she usually says goodnight to every object she can think of so it keeps her from going to bed to quickly... WELL tonight she said goodnight to her Dexcom and I thought it was the absolute cutest thing ever!! She is well aware of what this contraption does and she is so smart and kind to want to tell it good night!!! Mom brag moment over!! Good night all!!
Take care!
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie!!
So we had an appointment with her doctor (family doctor) on July 14th for a 2 year check up. She weighed 30.1lbs and was 33in tall!! Such a big girl!! Her weight dropped from the 95+ percentile to just above the 75th percentile. It was a long winter folks and we have been moving since the weather got nice!! Elsie absolutely loves to play outside and is full of joy and energy when she does. We are so thankful for the happy healthy baby (not so much a baby anymore) we have!!
JDRF walk is coming up and we've almost made 50% of our goal!! We are doing awesome!! the more money we raise the more money gets donated to finding a cure!!
Tonight when we laid Elsie down for bed she usually says goodnight to every object she can think of so it keeps her from going to bed to quickly... WELL tonight she said goodnight to her Dexcom and I thought it was the absolute cutest thing ever!! She is well aware of what this contraption does and she is so smart and kind to want to tell it good night!!! Mom brag moment over!! Good night all!!
Take care!
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie!!
Friday, July 11, 2014
Pump Problems...
Woke up this morning like any normal day. Elsie's pump alarms every 3 days for us to change the site and put new insulin in the cartridge etc. SO at 9am this morning it alarmed and we covered for breakfast and unhooked the pump and began the loading process. Well the pump itself keeps a reservoir of insulin considered "unusable insulin" and that is so that the pump never actually gets empty and you never have air going through the tubing and into her skin. Well this time the pump kept telling me that there wasn't at least 50 units of insulin left in the pump after everything... SO long story short seems there was a problem with the pump itself and they are overnighting a new pump to us to tomorrow morning.
In the meantime we had to do injections today, we were apprehensive about the injections and didn't know how well she'd take to them. Well she didn't even seem to care!! She is always such a go with the flow and do whatever it takes. We also think she knows that insulin makes her feel better now so she accepts it!!
We luckily had an appointment with our Diabetic Educator, Noreen, today. So it worked out well to kind of go over things and troubleshoot things. She gave us some extra insulin vials to keep in the fridge as back-up.
We did an A1c check today too and it was 7.8%!! (meaning her average blood sugar for the last 3 months was around 184) Which is absolutely amazing!! Noreen explained that with being as young as she is - this number would actually be too low. But because we have the Dexcom and they can see that she hasn't had a low under 80 in a month!! So they know that the 7.8% A1c is not because of too many lows but instead because of overly anal mothers that are amazingly managing her diabetes!! We are so happy!!
Noreen also mentioned to us that Tandem (Elsie's pump company) had their national conference a while back and were discussing the regions cases and success etc - well Elsie seems to be the VERY youngest person to be using the Tandem T-Slim insulin pump!! The representatives at Tandem were SO impressed at how well she is doing on it etc. Our Diabetic Educator wants to do a case study on Elsie because of how well she is doing and growing etc!!
Our main goal day to day is to keep Elsie's sugars at a manageable level and to avoid serious lows (unconscious lows) that can harm brain development. We are definitely doing that and doing that very well!! The Dexcom and the pump have allowed us to be more comfortable giving Elsie insulin to keep sugars lower knowing we can catch it whens shes starting to drop low - and fix it before it happens!! Noreen said a HUGE goal is to improve the quality of life not only for Elsie but for the whole family!! These technological advances have definitely helped us sleep better knowing that Elsie is not dropping too low at night and potentially unconscious etc!!
Thank you for keeping up with us!! We love the support we get from everyone!! This is such an awesome way for us to let everyone know what we are up to...what we are struggling with and what we are succeeding with!!
Take care!!
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
In the meantime we had to do injections today, we were apprehensive about the injections and didn't know how well she'd take to them. Well she didn't even seem to care!! She is always such a go with the flow and do whatever it takes. We also think she knows that insulin makes her feel better now so she accepts it!!
We luckily had an appointment with our Diabetic Educator, Noreen, today. So it worked out well to kind of go over things and troubleshoot things. She gave us some extra insulin vials to keep in the fridge as back-up.
We did an A1c check today too and it was 7.8%!! (meaning her average blood sugar for the last 3 months was around 184) Which is absolutely amazing!! Noreen explained that with being as young as she is - this number would actually be too low. But because we have the Dexcom and they can see that she hasn't had a low under 80 in a month!! So they know that the 7.8% A1c is not because of too many lows but instead because of overly anal mothers that are amazingly managing her diabetes!! We are so happy!!
Noreen also mentioned to us that Tandem (Elsie's pump company) had their national conference a while back and were discussing the regions cases and success etc - well Elsie seems to be the VERY youngest person to be using the Tandem T-Slim insulin pump!! The representatives at Tandem were SO impressed at how well she is doing on it etc. Our Diabetic Educator wants to do a case study on Elsie because of how well she is doing and growing etc!!
Our main goal day to day is to keep Elsie's sugars at a manageable level and to avoid serious lows (unconscious lows) that can harm brain development. We are definitely doing that and doing that very well!! The Dexcom and the pump have allowed us to be more comfortable giving Elsie insulin to keep sugars lower knowing we can catch it whens shes starting to drop low - and fix it before it happens!! Noreen said a HUGE goal is to improve the quality of life not only for Elsie but for the whole family!! These technological advances have definitely helped us sleep better knowing that Elsie is not dropping too low at night and potentially unconscious etc!!
Thank you for keeping up with us!! We love the support we get from everyone!! This is such an awesome way for us to let everyone know what we are up to...what we are struggling with and what we are succeeding with!!
Take care!!
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
Monday, June 23, 2014
Pictures, Potty Training, Etsy...
Well we got her two year pictures on Sunday and we were very anxious at the beginning because she is so shy of strangers. There was one person in particular who helped warm her up, and made her laugh. We've been looking at the difference in her from last year to this year. We couldn't get her to smile at all last year for her pictures - we tried!! But hind sight here she was in diabetic ketoacidosis and was ridiculously sick and we didn't even know. It makes us so sad and feel so awful that we didn't notice the signs earlier - We know that we can't go back and change things - but we just feel so bad that she got so sick!!
We were sleep training when she was sick - we used the cry it out method. We let her cry for 10 minutes and then go lay her down and she eventually would fall asleep. Well when we found out she was sick we felt immense guilt for letting her cry - because she was trying to tell us she didn't feel good and was sick! So needless to say we do not let her cry herself to sleep - and thankfully she is very good and going to bed. She asks to bring a baby or her dolls or a book to bed with her almost every night. She is just amazing! While the cry it out method did work - and we understand that it works for many people the fear of her crying because she's low or crying because she's high and has gotten sick or peed through her diaper - is too much to not answer her cries.
We are hoping to try to potty train here soon. This will be quite the task since her sugars will play a key role in potty training... keeping her as regulated and as in target as possible is going to be REALLY important - however sometimes her sugars go high for no reason - nothing can be explained and sometimes they do great without explanation. So we will do out best and we will continue to try to potty train. If she's not ready then we will try in a few months but we would LOVE to be out of diapers!!
Been thinking of opening up an Etsy.com shop - Sarah would crochet blankets and washcloths and sell them to help our monthly expenses. Living with one income is very difficult (as many know) and driving to doctors appointments etc. adds to the expenses and stress. Any thoughts on whether or not it would be worth it would be awesome!! We'll keep trucking along and we are doing great and loving life every minute by minute!!
Take Care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
Last year...
This Year...
We were sleep training when she was sick - we used the cry it out method. We let her cry for 10 minutes and then go lay her down and she eventually would fall asleep. Well when we found out she was sick we felt immense guilt for letting her cry - because she was trying to tell us she didn't feel good and was sick! So needless to say we do not let her cry herself to sleep - and thankfully she is very good and going to bed. She asks to bring a baby or her dolls or a book to bed with her almost every night. She is just amazing! While the cry it out method did work - and we understand that it works for many people the fear of her crying because she's low or crying because she's high and has gotten sick or peed through her diaper - is too much to not answer her cries.
We are hoping to try to potty train here soon. This will be quite the task since her sugars will play a key role in potty training... keeping her as regulated and as in target as possible is going to be REALLY important - however sometimes her sugars go high for no reason - nothing can be explained and sometimes they do great without explanation. So we will do out best and we will continue to try to potty train. If she's not ready then we will try in a few months but we would LOVE to be out of diapers!!
Been thinking of opening up an Etsy.com shop - Sarah would crochet blankets and washcloths and sell them to help our monthly expenses. Living with one income is very difficult (as many know) and driving to doctors appointments etc. adds to the expenses and stress. Any thoughts on whether or not it would be worth it would be awesome!! We'll keep trucking along and we are doing great and loving life every minute by minute!!
Take Care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Dentist...
We were incredibly nervous yesterday when we went to the dentist. We walked in there and saw two other small kids leaving and they were happy so we were more confident after that. They called us back and were in a double room a teenage boy was in there finishing up his visit. He was talking to Elsie and she wasn't scared at all!! The hygienist asked if she'd like to sit on one of our laps or she could sit in the big chair. Elsie said she wanted to sit in the chair! So we put her in it and she opened up and let the hygienist get right in there. There was a small spot of tarter build up on one tooth, which in the area it was in is common for anyone to get build up, but Elsie actually let her use the metal scrapper and got it off really quick. She was so amazing... opening her mouth so wide for them! She has 16 teeth - 8 on top and 8 on bottom. She has her two year molars to come in still (so YAY we still have some teething to do!) But everything looks great as far as the jaw structure and her teeth etc.! We are so happy and excited!! Sarah always loved going to the dentist so hopefully Elsie will like it too!! These are some pictures of her trip to the dentist!! She is seriously the most amazing person in the world!! We couldn't be more proud!!!
Made a call to Noreen (our diabetic Educator) today. We have been having some low blood sugars at bedtime. We aren't sure where they are coming from. We have excellent sugar levels all day and then at night she goes down to 100 or lower before bed. Mind you she still has insulin going throughout the night and going to bed at 100 is sure to drop her low at night and we hate to give juice or milk at night - so we usually have her over 150 when she goes to bed. WELL last night she was 184 before her night time milk. Her 8oz of milk at bedtime is 12g of carbs and we usually have to cover half or all of it depending on her sugar level. Well last night we decided to NOT cover any of it and see how her sugar was in the morning. She woke up this morning at 88!! After no coverage for 12g of carbs!! Well Noreen said that when she plays outside she could continue to burn carbs etc. for 12-36 hours after playing. So we are going to NOT cover bedtime carbs for a while and see how things go. Sarah's mom is watching Elsie for the night while we go to Grand Rapids Gay Pride - we haven't been away from Elsie overnight since March of 2013!! Sarah's mom has watched her for a couple hours here and there - but nothing long term - and we trust her completely to do it BUT its always scary!! So we wanted to have a good grasp on things before this weekend.
This is a picture of her average hourly blood sugars - the green shaded area is our target range and we're ALMOST ALWAYS in that range which is great!!! Proud Mommies over here!!
So we're still moving in the right direction...Elsie is growing like a weed!! She's meeting and exceeding milestones!! She's so smart and so beautiful!! Thank you all again for all the support!! We love you all!! Keep praying for Elsie and a cure for this confusing disease!! We're becoming pros at this but would love to say someday she USED to have diabetes!!
Take Care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie!!!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Long awaited update...
OK so our computer has been down and getting a new hard drive etc. for a couple weeks now. We have been having a great time with Elsie in these last few weeks, Her sugars have been kept at a well maintained level. We have started getting the hang of this whole exercise thing. Its been awesome to see her swim and play and she LOVES to play in the water at the beach. She has absolutely no fear - which is good but gives Moms a heart attack when she dives underwater - she'll always come out smiling.
We have had a couple lows from the exercise!! But we have been really good at bringing her up from a low without going sky high - which TRUST me takes a lot of finessing!! We are pretty proud of ourselves. We have a very active little lady on our hands. - She always makes new friends at the park and plays so well with them - The older kids at the park protect her and make sure she goes down the slide safely and its kind of awesome to have them guide her and Moms can relax at the park!!
Today we have a dentist appointment at 4:30pm - SO nervous - not sure what to expect!! We were encouraged to get her into the dentist fairly early because of the nighttime lows we get and have to give her juice or milk at night - and her saliva will naturally be higher in sugar from the diabetes so we'll have to have more dental care more likely - so we're trying to get her comfortable early - Sarah didn't have any cavities until she was 21 years old - so lets hope Elsie follows that side of the gene pool for dental issues... :-)
Everyday is a new day and a new blessing for us to spend time with Elsie - We are beyond blessed and thankful for all the support from friends and family - Elsie's birthday party is about a month away and we are so excited to share that day with family and friends!!
Take care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie too!!
We have had a couple lows from the exercise!! But we have been really good at bringing her up from a low without going sky high - which TRUST me takes a lot of finessing!! We are pretty proud of ourselves. We have a very active little lady on our hands. - She always makes new friends at the park and plays so well with them - The older kids at the park protect her and make sure she goes down the slide safely and its kind of awesome to have them guide her and Moms can relax at the park!!
Today we have a dentist appointment at 4:30pm - SO nervous - not sure what to expect!! We were encouraged to get her into the dentist fairly early because of the nighttime lows we get and have to give her juice or milk at night - and her saliva will naturally be higher in sugar from the diabetes so we'll have to have more dental care more likely - so we're trying to get her comfortable early - Sarah didn't have any cavities until she was 21 years old - so lets hope Elsie follows that side of the gene pool for dental issues... :-)
Everyday is a new day and a new blessing for us to spend time with Elsie - We are beyond blessed and thankful for all the support from friends and family - Elsie's birthday party is about a month away and we are so excited to share that day with family and friends!!
Take care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie too!!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Keep on Keeping on...
So we are doing well and we having nothing major to talk about. Just wanted to check in and let everyone know we're doing well. Elsie is growing so much and talking so much more. It is now pretty regular for us to have fairly full conversations with her. She has quite the vocabulary. She picks up on our emotions and on our body language and its funny!! She knows so much sign language and we try to teach her a couple new signs each day. Really taking advantage of this sponge of a brain that she has.
We have had some eye opening experiences in terms of her sugars being brought down (and might we add pretty aggressively) from exercise. Never did we know how much playing outside could bring her sugars down. We were getting a few lows (70's and 80's - nothing too bad) just from her being outside and playing on the play place in the backyard. We've been newly educated on how to work on keeping those numbers in a healthy range. So we're still doing a few changes and some tweaks to perfect it.
She has a new routine at bedtime that her baby doll has to sleep with her in her bed on her own pillow. AND when we tuck her in at night we also have to make sure her baby doll has covers too - and if Elsie decides to sleep on her belly her baby doll must also be on her belly and vice versa. She is so funny - but always like to take care of her baby doll. She'll be such a good big sister when that time comes...
SO all is well for now, we are thriving, we are living life and - getting ready to celebrate her birthday party this summer - and might we remind you that this will be her FIRST birthday NOT in a hospital - so Mommies are pretty much going all out for this!!
Our JDRF walk is scheduled for September 14, 2014 at Beutter Park in Mishawaka, IN. We have a walk team "Team Elsie 'Moo'ves for a Cure" anyone and everyone is welcome to join our group - if you do so you can do so at this website http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/TeamElsie I am hoping to update this page in the near future to make it more personal. Also if you are wanting to walk with us on this day please specify that when you register -
Thank you all for the support and the love we feel it and LOVE knowing our sweet baby is SO loved...
Take Care
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
We have had some eye opening experiences in terms of her sugars being brought down (and might we add pretty aggressively) from exercise. Never did we know how much playing outside could bring her sugars down. We were getting a few lows (70's and 80's - nothing too bad) just from her being outside and playing on the play place in the backyard. We've been newly educated on how to work on keeping those numbers in a healthy range. So we're still doing a few changes and some tweaks to perfect it.
She has a new routine at bedtime that her baby doll has to sleep with her in her bed on her own pillow. AND when we tuck her in at night we also have to make sure her baby doll has covers too - and if Elsie decides to sleep on her belly her baby doll must also be on her belly and vice versa. She is so funny - but always like to take care of her baby doll. She'll be such a good big sister when that time comes...
SO all is well for now, we are thriving, we are living life and - getting ready to celebrate her birthday party this summer - and might we remind you that this will be her FIRST birthday NOT in a hospital - so Mommies are pretty much going all out for this!!
Our JDRF walk is scheduled for September 14, 2014 at Beutter Park in Mishawaka, IN. We have a walk team "Team Elsie 'Moo'ves for a Cure" anyone and everyone is welcome to join our group - if you do so you can do so at this website http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/TeamElsie I am hoping to update this page in the near future to make it more personal. Also if you are wanting to walk with us on this day please specify that when you register -
Thank you all for the support and the love we feel it and LOVE knowing our sweet baby is SO loved...
Take Care
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Appointment details...
Okay so we had our appointment with our endocrinologist yesterday - We were initially planning on typing this up last night but it was a busy night and we spent a while at the park and on a walk - gotta get this little lady some time to "play."
So last time we met with the endocrinologist (12/18/13) we were still doing injections and we discussed a pump as an option. Her A1c was 9% - we were doing awesome with keeping her levels "controlled."
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We were put on the pump January 30th - and our average blood sugar since being on the pump was 210 (the last two weeks was 189). Keep in mind her target range is 80-200. We are doing great and we are also worried about what her A1c will be because of the high sugars we had a few weeks ago when she went through her growth spurt...
So the moment we've all been waiting for... her A1c was 8.3%!!! Yay!! we brought it down AND kept her in her target range for her A1c!! Her target is to be below a 9% A1c!! Doctor told us that at her age an A1c of 8.3% is amazing and that we are doing amazing and doing everything we should be. She has grown taller and gained weight since the last visit which means shes getting insulin and her sugars are very well controlled!!!
They always make us feel so good about our care for Elsie - Obviously we take care of her she's our baby and we love her so much but to hear that she is healthy and they have NO suggestions for us and to keep doing what we are doing is amazing!! It makes us feel so good and reassures us...
We always learn new things at these appointments and we truly are thankful to be meeting with such an amazing endocrinologist!! He is awesome at what he does and we never feel rushed! He answers all our questions and we are just so lucky to have the support we have!!
Scheduling our appointments for the summer we meet with endocrinologist again in August and Noreen in July (the 10th) and Noreen made a comment that she will not be celebrating Elsie's birthday with her this year... it was humorous because she was there with us last year in the PICU - We have this gem that we cherish so much and we love to watch over and over again. Elsie even loves it!! The support we experienced while at the hospital on her first birthday was amazing!! we scanned the room real quick in the video to show that there were so many professionals in the room - nurses, doctors, volunteers etc!! She had the BEST first birthday (spent in a pediatric intensive care unit) a girl could have!!
We've already started to plan her second birthday party - usually second birthdays aren't as extravagant as first birthdays but we are making this one as special as her first. This is her FIRST birthday as a healthy little girl and her first birthday not in a hospital and we are MORE than excited to celebrate that with all who want to!!!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the support you all give us and thank you for keeping up with us on our adventures with Elsie & Diabetes...
Take Care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
So last time we met with the endocrinologist (12/18/13) we were still doing injections and we discussed a pump as an option. Her A1c was 9% - we were doing awesome with keeping her levels "controlled."
We were put on the pump January 30th - and our average blood sugar since being on the pump was 210 (the last two weeks was 189). Keep in mind her target range is 80-200. We are doing great and we are also worried about what her A1c will be because of the high sugars we had a few weeks ago when she went through her growth spurt...
So the moment we've all been waiting for... her A1c was 8.3%!!! Yay!! we brought it down AND kept her in her target range for her A1c!! Her target is to be below a 9% A1c!! Doctor told us that at her age an A1c of 8.3% is amazing and that we are doing amazing and doing everything we should be. She has grown taller and gained weight since the last visit which means shes getting insulin and her sugars are very well controlled!!!
They always make us feel so good about our care for Elsie - Obviously we take care of her she's our baby and we love her so much but to hear that she is healthy and they have NO suggestions for us and to keep doing what we are doing is amazing!! It makes us feel so good and reassures us...
We always learn new things at these appointments and we truly are thankful to be meeting with such an amazing endocrinologist!! He is awesome at what he does and we never feel rushed! He answers all our questions and we are just so lucky to have the support we have!!
Scheduling our appointments for the summer we meet with endocrinologist again in August and Noreen in July (the 10th) and Noreen made a comment that she will not be celebrating Elsie's birthday with her this year... it was humorous because she was there with us last year in the PICU - We have this gem that we cherish so much and we love to watch over and over again. Elsie even loves it!! The support we experienced while at the hospital on her first birthday was amazing!! we scanned the room real quick in the video to show that there were so many professionals in the room - nurses, doctors, volunteers etc!! She had the BEST first birthday (spent in a pediatric intensive care unit) a girl could have!!
We've already started to plan her second birthday party - usually second birthdays aren't as extravagant as first birthdays but we are making this one as special as her first. This is her FIRST birthday as a healthy little girl and her first birthday not in a hospital and we are MORE than excited to celebrate that with all who want to!!!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the support you all give us and thank you for keeping up with us on our adventures with Elsie & Diabetes...
Take Care,
McKenzie, Sarah & Elsie
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Update
We just wanted to take a moment and share that Elsie has been doing amazing since the insulin changes that we have made a few days ago. We are very excited about how much better shes been acting with more controlled sugars.
She is adapting well to the babysitting kids - we had a friend living with us for close to a month and she has since moved out and it was stressful for all having less room in the house. Elsie was much more cranky having more people living with us. It was a lot for a toddler to handle and stress can mess with her sugars too. Shes been eating better and more at a time - less snacking more mealing - for lack of a better word.
She officially LOVES Frozen the movie and loves the music to the movie. We have an appointment April 9th with our endocrinologist to discuss things. I think we've been doing well with the pump and are MORE than thankful for the DEXCOM. We actually found ourselves asking how we ever did diabetes without the DEXCOM before?
We see this sweet face and to us this face is perfection...what makes things emotional is thinking that ANYTHING could be wrong with this sweet beautiful girl? Looking at her, watching her, no one would ever guess she has a life long illness to deal with everyday?
We've decided that we are going to get healthier for Elsie. We are going to be cooking dinner at home every night and not eating out or bad foods as often - trying for never but we can't be perfect - We are going to walk and get moving physically to keep our bodies on the right path to being more healthy. This is our motivation;
When we feel like NOT doing something healthy we are going to ask ourselves if Elsie gets to stop being diabetic because she's not feeling like it today?...NOPE so therefore there is NO excuse good enough to not doing something good for ourselves...
Take Care,
McKenzie, Sarah, & Elsie
She is adapting well to the babysitting kids - we had a friend living with us for close to a month and she has since moved out and it was stressful for all having less room in the house. Elsie was much more cranky having more people living with us. It was a lot for a toddler to handle and stress can mess with her sugars too. Shes been eating better and more at a time - less snacking more mealing - for lack of a better word.
She officially LOVES Frozen the movie and loves the music to the movie. We have an appointment April 9th with our endocrinologist to discuss things. I think we've been doing well with the pump and are MORE than thankful for the DEXCOM. We actually found ourselves asking how we ever did diabetes without the DEXCOM before?
We see this sweet face and to us this face is perfection...what makes things emotional is thinking that ANYTHING could be wrong with this sweet beautiful girl? Looking at her, watching her, no one would ever guess she has a life long illness to deal with everyday?
We've decided that we are going to get healthier for Elsie. We are going to be cooking dinner at home every night and not eating out or bad foods as often - trying for never but we can't be perfect - We are going to walk and get moving physically to keep our bodies on the right path to being more healthy. This is our motivation;
When we feel like NOT doing something healthy we are going to ask ourselves if Elsie gets to stop being diabetic because she's not feeling like it today?...NOPE so therefore there is NO excuse good enough to not doing something good for ourselves...
Take Care,
McKenzie, Sarah, & Elsie
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Changes...
Changes are always happening in this house!! We have changed insulin to carb ratios recently! Moms have had a few roller-coaster days with fighting insulin and avoiding low blood sugars. We handled them for the most part without having to call our diabetic educator - but after three days in a row... we decided it was time to touch base. Sarah called a friend who has Type 1 - for some support and it apparently turned into a shoulder to cry on...
Diabetes care with a toddler is a new learning experience everyday. We have to watch her behaviors to tell us about her sugars more than anything. We unfortunately cannot ask her how she feels - we can't get a straight answer from her at the current time. She has quite the vocabulary, but shes 21 months old - so recognizing that her blood sugar is high or low just isn't something that she is able to do. We are proud of all she can tell us however and we are understanding her body language pretty good.
At this point in time we are tweaking her insulin levels based on her sugars and our main goal to avoid severe lows ( which are like 40 and under) we've had her at 66 at the lowest since shes been on this pump - so we are succeeding!!!
We have been looking at her numbers and her average blood sugar since the pump has been 210. Our goal sugars are supposed to be between 80 and 200. So we are BARELY above our goal range!! Which is awesome!! We are doing awesome and hearing our diabetic educator reassure us of that is so much more amazing than I can even describe. We like to KNOW we are doing good things for Elsie - and we were told to look at the QUALITY OF LIFE - not necessarily the numbers. Looking at it that way were are able to say that Elsie no longer wakes up in the middle of the night thirsty because her blood sugar is high. She wakes up if she ends up uncovered or her binky falls out of her mouth! She sleeps through the night most nights than not. We've NEVER been able to say that since she was born.
It hasn't been easy to deal with a child ( a toddler ) with diabetes but it is thankfully a manageable disease! We were able to take our sick child into a hospital and leave with a child on their way to better health. She will always have this disease ( unless a cure is found ) and we will always be thankful that medical science was able to create a hormone that her body is no longer able to make. With that we are able to give her this hormone and fix any imbalance in her body. We are LUCKY that were didn't get a diagnosis of cancer or anything that we couldn't make her feel better for the rest of her life. She has an amazing prognosis and we couldn't be more thankful for that!
She is such an amazing girl and smiles through the worst of days - and she shows such a strength that we could only be so lucky to have. She is such a brave little girl - and she is the sunshine of our lives and she is the reason we smile each and every day. SO thankful for a healthy, beautiful, and strong little girl!!
Take Care,
Sarah, McKenzie & Elsie
Diabetes care with a toddler is a new learning experience everyday. We have to watch her behaviors to tell us about her sugars more than anything. We unfortunately cannot ask her how she feels - we can't get a straight answer from her at the current time. She has quite the vocabulary, but shes 21 months old - so recognizing that her blood sugar is high or low just isn't something that she is able to do. We are proud of all she can tell us however and we are understanding her body language pretty good.
At this point in time we are tweaking her insulin levels based on her sugars and our main goal to avoid severe lows ( which are like 40 and under) we've had her at 66 at the lowest since shes been on this pump - so we are succeeding!!!
We have been looking at her numbers and her average blood sugar since the pump has been 210. Our goal sugars are supposed to be between 80 and 200. So we are BARELY above our goal range!! Which is awesome!! We are doing awesome and hearing our diabetic educator reassure us of that is so much more amazing than I can even describe. We like to KNOW we are doing good things for Elsie - and we were told to look at the QUALITY OF LIFE - not necessarily the numbers. Looking at it that way were are able to say that Elsie no longer wakes up in the middle of the night thirsty because her blood sugar is high. She wakes up if she ends up uncovered or her binky falls out of her mouth! She sleeps through the night most nights than not. We've NEVER been able to say that since she was born.
It hasn't been easy to deal with a child ( a toddler ) with diabetes but it is thankfully a manageable disease! We were able to take our sick child into a hospital and leave with a child on their way to better health. She will always have this disease ( unless a cure is found ) and we will always be thankful that medical science was able to create a hormone that her body is no longer able to make. With that we are able to give her this hormone and fix any imbalance in her body. We are LUCKY that were didn't get a diagnosis of cancer or anything that we couldn't make her feel better for the rest of her life. She has an amazing prognosis and we couldn't be more thankful for that!
She is such an amazing girl and smiles through the worst of days - and she shows such a strength that we could only be so lucky to have. She is such a brave little girl - and she is the sunshine of our lives and she is the reason we smile each and every day. SO thankful for a healthy, beautiful, and strong little girl!!
Take Care,
Sarah, McKenzie & Elsie
Friday, February 28, 2014
Getting used to this thing....
Okay so we have been on the Dexcom over a week now - we had a successful site change on Monday. It was surprisingly easy! Way to go us! We did reach out to someone via the Internet (so thankful there are so many people willing to offer support) to someone we've never met but has been very willing to provide support when we needed it. She too, has the Dexcom CGMS and told us it takes some getting used to at first. BOY was she right! We had been so focused on the numbers and no the patterns or trends as they call it. I see 300's and panic - which at her age will not harm her (as long as she's well hydrated and getting adequate insulin). It is normal for BS to go up before it comes down. Insulin is a great thing but a non-diabetic makes insulin before food has even entered their body. Elsie doesn't get her insulin until she's done eating. Which could potentially be 45 minutes after she started eating and by then her sugar has already started to rise. We are getting more comfortable with the numbers and not focusing so much on them. We had to tweak her basal rate and correction ratio here in the last couple days. Just now starting to see a change in blood sugar amounts - so feeling more confident. This same individual explained to us that changing rates etc too quickly can make her feel really crappy - and explained that lows feel SO much worse than the highs. Which made us feel better, WAY better!
Elsie is adapting very good - she's even starting to show signs for potty training to begin. She's been grabbing her diaper and saying "Eww" after she pees of poops in it - but she fights to sit on the potty - We aren't forcing anything so we'll keep trying until she's ready but I have a feeling it will be SOON!! YAY!!
This was not much of an update but things are busy and we only get a few minutes at a time to write up a quick blog!! Thanks for all the support!!
Take Care,
Sarah, McKenzie & Elsie!
Elsie is adapting very good - she's even starting to show signs for potty training to begin. She's been grabbing her diaper and saying "Eww" after she pees of poops in it - but she fights to sit on the potty - We aren't forcing anything so we'll keep trying until she's ready but I have a feeling it will be SOON!! YAY!!
This was not much of an update but things are busy and we only get a few minutes at a time to write up a quick blog!! Thanks for all the support!!
Take Care,
Sarah, McKenzie & Elsie!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Today is the day...
Today marks the day that we will be getting acclimated with the DEXCOM CGMS. Super exciting day in the Hunt household. We have fought for the approval for this. Our Doctor and Nurse have written reccommendation letters to insurance to explain why this is a necesity. We fought and we won! YAY! So over the moon excited this will open so many doors for us.
We are however scared about putting another infusion site on poor Elsie's little bum. She doesn't seem to flail at all in terms of the pump infusion site. She wimpers for a minute. We're sure its little worse than a finger poke but its only for a slipt second. She just never stops moving forward. We feel like we could learn something from her young spry ways. She was in ketoacidosis in June/July and was still taking steps on her own still trying SO hard to meet milestones she just kept chugging along. When we look back at how sick she really was its just crazy. Her first steps by herself were on June 12, 2013. She must have continued to get more sick after that because she never took steps after that. She mostly laid on the floor didn't even crawl much. She just sat in a chair on a lap, or laid on the floor and sometimes fell asleep. (this from a girl who can't sleep anywhere but her own bed)
We got home from the hospital and she was literally walking around as if she had been walking for months. It was so exciting for us - she even tried to walk in the hospital but was hooked up to so many things she really couldn't do that all so much.
But her resilience for life and the obstacles thrown at her is unbeleivable. Children in general have a non-skewed view on life. They haven't felt depression they are not capable of that - they fight so hard because they don't know how to give up. They are full of positive energy because the world hasn't yet taught them to be negative about things. If we could live in a world where this was true to adults and children alike; there would be no reason for tears to stream down our faces when Elsie's sugar gets out of control. Or when she has a low sugar and the panic and fear that flows through our veins like ice cold water.
Its amazing being Elsie's parents, but it is one of the scariest things we've ever done. We have cried and laughed and been so scared for our daughter more in the last 7 months than ever in her entire life. Diabetes is NOT an easy disease - its manageable yes absolutely but with managing it comes some crazy finessing. Because of how young she is the Doctors let insulin do the talking. We try ratios and see if they cause a low or a high and adjust the ratio from that point. THEN she grows and it all changes from there. It will constantly change like this until shes about 20 years old. So basically we're going to stress for the next almost 18 years of our lives - and we will do so with a smile on our face. Our fighter will be smiling and so will we, this is the adventures we take with Elsie and her Diabetes.
Take Care,
Sarah, McKenzie, & Elsie
(I'm sure there are spelling errors but it told me there were not - please make due I am NOT a great speller!)
We are however scared about putting another infusion site on poor Elsie's little bum. She doesn't seem to flail at all in terms of the pump infusion site. She wimpers for a minute. We're sure its little worse than a finger poke but its only for a slipt second. She just never stops moving forward. We feel like we could learn something from her young spry ways. She was in ketoacidosis in June/July and was still taking steps on her own still trying SO hard to meet milestones she just kept chugging along. When we look back at how sick she really was its just crazy. Her first steps by herself were on June 12, 2013. She must have continued to get more sick after that because she never took steps after that. She mostly laid on the floor didn't even crawl much. She just sat in a chair on a lap, or laid on the floor and sometimes fell asleep. (this from a girl who can't sleep anywhere but her own bed)
We got home from the hospital and she was literally walking around as if she had been walking for months. It was so exciting for us - she even tried to walk in the hospital but was hooked up to so many things she really couldn't do that all so much.
But her resilience for life and the obstacles thrown at her is unbeleivable. Children in general have a non-skewed view on life. They haven't felt depression they are not capable of that - they fight so hard because they don't know how to give up. They are full of positive energy because the world hasn't yet taught them to be negative about things. If we could live in a world where this was true to adults and children alike; there would be no reason for tears to stream down our faces when Elsie's sugar gets out of control. Or when she has a low sugar and the panic and fear that flows through our veins like ice cold water.
Its amazing being Elsie's parents, but it is one of the scariest things we've ever done. We have cried and laughed and been so scared for our daughter more in the last 7 months than ever in her entire life. Diabetes is NOT an easy disease - its manageable yes absolutely but with managing it comes some crazy finessing. Because of how young she is the Doctors let insulin do the talking. We try ratios and see if they cause a low or a high and adjust the ratio from that point. THEN she grows and it all changes from there. It will constantly change like this until shes about 20 years old. So basically we're going to stress for the next almost 18 years of our lives - and we will do so with a smile on our face. Our fighter will be smiling and so will we, this is the adventures we take with Elsie and her Diabetes.
Take Care,
Sarah, McKenzie, & Elsie
(I'm sure there are spelling errors but it told me there were not - please make due I am NOT a great speller!)
Monday, February 10, 2014
The time has come...
So we received the Dexcom continuous glucose monitoring system today! So excited for February 18th when we get to learn how to work the darn thing! We will be able to use that reading as her blood sugar and only have to calibrate the device three or four times a day. So we will only have to poke her with the lancet to check blood sugar a few times a day. At this point we are checking her at least 6 times a day if not more than that!
We were able to get rid of the milk at night routine. We thought that we would have more trouble than we did. She fought Sarah only for a couple nights. We started this training on a Friday night and by Monday she was able to take a sippy cup of water and/or her binky and go back to bed. She still gets up 1-2 times a night but does not beg for milk anymore. She usually wakes up when she cannot find her binky. She is quite attached to that. We have a feeling that we will be blogging about taking this binky away at some point in the future.
This insulin pump business is going fairly good. We've had a few highs and only one or two lows. We have been doing fairly well. She may be growing now and needed a different insulin to carb ratio or a different basal rate for her insulin.
OH MY! We went to Friday's for dinner the other day and Elsie had to poop while we were eating of course and she was sitting in the highchair so of course its an awkward position and forces the poop up her back etc. So Sarah went to change her and noticed that it was all up her back and everything (love blowout poops by the way) and Sarah had to change her diaper and change her infusion site for her insulin pump because there was poop in it. It was a disaster! Our waitress thought that Sarah and Elsie had ditched McKenzie and Sarah had to deal with Elsie running around the Friday's bathroom screaming and playing around - it was QUITE the experience...good thing we are in need of the site change practice and good thing that we get enough supplies each month!
We are so lucky and so blessed for this life and could not be happier! Amma came down to visit this weekend and it was SO nice to have her here with us. She is such a huge support in our life. We are so thankful for her. She has been there for everything and we couldn't have gotten through some of this without her I don't think. She is such a brilliant lady!!
Take Care all its Olympics time!
Sarah, McKenzie, & Elsie!
We were able to get rid of the milk at night routine. We thought that we would have more trouble than we did. She fought Sarah only for a couple nights. We started this training on a Friday night and by Monday she was able to take a sippy cup of water and/or her binky and go back to bed. She still gets up 1-2 times a night but does not beg for milk anymore. She usually wakes up when she cannot find her binky. She is quite attached to that. We have a feeling that we will be blogging about taking this binky away at some point in the future.
This insulin pump business is going fairly good. We've had a few highs and only one or two lows. We have been doing fairly well. She may be growing now and needed a different insulin to carb ratio or a different basal rate for her insulin.
OH MY! We went to Friday's for dinner the other day and Elsie had to poop while we were eating of course and she was sitting in the highchair so of course its an awkward position and forces the poop up her back etc. So Sarah went to change her and noticed that it was all up her back and everything (love blowout poops by the way) and Sarah had to change her diaper and change her infusion site for her insulin pump because there was poop in it. It was a disaster! Our waitress thought that Sarah and Elsie had ditched McKenzie and Sarah had to deal with Elsie running around the Friday's bathroom screaming and playing around - it was QUITE the experience...good thing we are in need of the site change practice and good thing that we get enough supplies each month!
We are so lucky and so blessed for this life and could not be happier! Amma came down to visit this weekend and it was SO nice to have her here with us. She is such a huge support in our life. We are so thankful for her. She has been there for everything and we couldn't have gotten through some of this without her I don't think. She is such a brilliant lady!!
Take Care all its Olympics time!
Sarah, McKenzie, & Elsie!
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Our News Is Good News!! Woot Woot!!!
We got GREAT news yesterday! We've been approved for thw DEXCON continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS)! We've had our fingers crossed for months waiting on this decision! This device will check her blood sugar every few seconds and wireless communicate that blood sugar reading to a handheld device that will be kept in our pocket or on our hip! This way we'll be able to see her blood sugars and the trends she develops and we'll be able to regulate these sugars and keep track of her ups and downs more efficiently!
This is what the handheld device will look like! We ordered the pink one - only because I didn't like the other colors as much as I liked pink!
At this point in our pumping journey we are checking blood sugar every four hours throughout the night and before every meal during the day. Also if shes cranky we check her because she cannot verbalize when she is high or low to us just yet.
Everyday is still a struggle. We both feel differently in terms on the effect of insulin on Elsie and it becomes an argument at times. We only want the best for Elsie and sometimes our desire for her wellbeing can become an argument...we always come to an agreement and some days we agree all day. Its terrifying to have a child with diabetes. As natural as insulin is - as our bodies make it naturally - the type we are putting into Elsie is not made in her body so its in a sense foreign to her and sometimes shes more sensitive to it and sometimes she resists it. So we'll have days where her sugars are low and we're trying desperately to keep them up into an in target level and some days where shes high all day no matter how accurately we correct for her carb intake and blood sugars.
So as I said every day is an adventure of one sort or another! Its a rollercoaster of sorts but we are the perfect pair to be on this rollercoaster together! We compliment each others imperfections and when one gets lackadaisical the other keeps with the program and it all works out every day!! We are so blessed to have a happy healthy adaptable and adorable little Elsie. I cannot imagine life without her and cannot imagine this adventure without diabetes -
Elsie is beautiful and a type 1 diabetic who is rocking the socks off this insulin pump business!! Even our drug rep tells me to say hi to Elsie for her every time we talk - she has touched so many lives and continues to do so each and every day! So jump on the adventure its quite a good time!!
Take care,
Sarah, McKenzie & Elsie
This is what the handheld device will look like! We ordered the pink one - only because I didn't like the other colors as much as I liked pink!
At this point in our pumping journey we are checking blood sugar every four hours throughout the night and before every meal during the day. Also if shes cranky we check her because she cannot verbalize when she is high or low to us just yet.
Everyday is still a struggle. We both feel differently in terms on the effect of insulin on Elsie and it becomes an argument at times. We only want the best for Elsie and sometimes our desire for her wellbeing can become an argument...we always come to an agreement and some days we agree all day. Its terrifying to have a child with diabetes. As natural as insulin is - as our bodies make it naturally - the type we are putting into Elsie is not made in her body so its in a sense foreign to her and sometimes shes more sensitive to it and sometimes she resists it. So we'll have days where her sugars are low and we're trying desperately to keep them up into an in target level and some days where shes high all day no matter how accurately we correct for her carb intake and blood sugars.
So as I said every day is an adventure of one sort or another! Its a rollercoaster of sorts but we are the perfect pair to be on this rollercoaster together! We compliment each others imperfections and when one gets lackadaisical the other keeps with the program and it all works out every day!! We are so blessed to have a happy healthy adaptable and adorable little Elsie. I cannot imagine life without her and cannot imagine this adventure without diabetes -
Elsie is beautiful and a type 1 diabetic who is rocking the socks off this insulin pump business!! Even our drug rep tells me to say hi to Elsie for her every time we talk - she has touched so many lives and continues to do so each and every day! So jump on the adventure its quite a good time!!
Take care,
Sarah, McKenzie & Elsie
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
In the months following diagnosis...
So we came home July 14th and it was a great day. We were terrified to be trusted with Elsie's life without a nurse or doctor 10 feet away. We had a cellphone number to contact our diabetic educator on 7 days a week 7am-7pm. We used it pretty good for the first weeks we were on our own. We checked blood sugars every two hours it felt like. Elsie entered, as many newly diagnosed diabetics do, a "honeymoon" stage.
Honeymoon in diabetic terms is defined as when a newly diagnosed diabetic gets quick blood sugar control and their pancreas seems to perk up and it actually produces a fairly significant amount of insulin and fast acting insulin is not needed all the time. We stayed in this perpetual honeymoon for nearly 4 months.
Elsie was placed on an insulin regimen of a daily dose of Lantus which is a long acting insulin and it gave a minute amount of insulin slowly throughout a 22-24 hour period. Then she was given fast acting insulin, Novolog, with meals to cover for the carbs she was ingesting. During our honeymoon stage we didn't give much Novolog and were able to control her blood sugars with her diet mainly.
We partook in a Juvenile Diabetic Research Foundation Walk for a Cure on September 15, 2013. We had a great turnout! All her biggest supporters were there with us. Sarah handmade shirts for everyone that read "Team Elsie Moooves for a Cure" on the front and their name on the back. It had black spots ironed on to look like dairy cows. We walked 2 miles and it was great! Can't wait for this year's walk!
Elsie slowly came out of honeymoon stage around Halloween time. So we comfortably gave insulin for some candy she ate on Halloween. We didn't trick or treat this year but next year we will for sure!
Elsie has continued to thrive and grow and develop as expected and is so advanced in many aspects. We are so proud of our little lady. January 12, 2014 was our 6 month anniversary of diagnosis and we cannot imagine where we'd be without Noreen teaching us all the things we know and our family and friends being there to support us.
Elsie started her insulin pump yesterday February 3, 2014. She has been doing amazing with it and we are excited to jump into this new adventure with Elsie and her diabetes! We'll follow up with more on the pump as we learn and get used to this.
Take Care,
Sarah, McKenzie, & Elsie
Monday, February 3, 2014
Welcome to our life! (Intro)
1:20am on July 13, 2012, her cries brought tears to our eyes! Our beautiful Elsie Stelle Hunt was born 7lbs 13.6oz 20inches long.
Our lives forever changed in that moment. Little did we know the whirlwind the next 365 days would be.
Elsie developed beautifully! She made all milestones on time and some were early! She rolled and crawled and cooed and boy did she grow! She was a healthy exclusively breastfed baby. She spent many hours with family and friends! She was showed and surrounded by love and our family was fully supported by everyone we knew! McKenzie stayed home and took care of sweet Elsie.
Sarah worked at Oaklawn Psychiatric Center and later moved on to work at IU Health Goshen Hospital. We moved in March 2013 to a 2 bedroom apartment as our small 1 bedroom home was no longer providing sufficient room for our family. We loved the new apartment. Hated sharing walls but Elsie was continuing to thrive.
Elsie came down with a virus around the middle to end of May 2013, her first real sickness. She kept getting irritable and cranky and not liking her usual activities. A round of antibiotics didn't do much to help.
Sarah lost her job at the hospital unexpectedly, she worked part time at a bakery - but it wasn't enough. McKenzie found a job at Keystone RV and everything changed for this family of three! McKenzie went from stay at home mom of 11 months, to sole provider for the family. Sarah went from working full-time and solely supporting this family for the last 7 years to stay at home mom and wife. This transition was terrifying for both McKenzie and Sarah.
Elsie seemed to be affected by the change as well. Elsie became more and more irritable, her energy level decreased tremendously, and her interest in usual things changed. Sarah started to think Elsie didn't like Sarah being home with her. Then Elsie started getting sick, vomiting, on a nightly basis. We were so worried. We tried to avoid unnecessary E.R. tests and made several visits to our family doctor. All symptoms pointed to teething, but that diagnosis didn't suffice for us.
Something was wrong and we knew. Doctor said keep an eye on vomiting and if she vomited anything similar to seaweed to take her to E.R. He explained a potential bowel obstruction. She then vomited green that very evening and IU Health Goshen Hospital emergency room here we came. The date was July 11, 2013 around 8:30pm. We got to the E.R. and blood and urine were taken from our sweet sick baby. She had no energy to fight the technicians and just laid there! 
Then the nurse came in to start an IV he mentioned her sugar was high and they wanted to flush it out. Sarah asked how high (she was a nurse aide and took some nursing school courses and knew a thing or two about blood sugar) he said it was 457! Sarah about fell off the hospital bed!
Keep in mind NORMAL blood sugar is between 70-120!
We asked why it would be so high? And the nurse said the doctor would be in to talk to us about it. But that he thinks she has diabetes. Never in our wildest dreams had we ever heard someone being diagnosed with diabetes before a year of age. Of course we NEVER thought this would happen to us!! We cried and Sarah made sure Amma was on her way down. This was all just before midnight on July 11th. Grandpa Danny came to the E.R. to give support.
We contacted our doctor and explained what was going on. He said he'd visit the next day at the children's hospital. We were transferred to Memorial Children's Hospital in South Bend shortly after midnight. Sarah rode the ambulance with Elsie and McKenzie met up with Amma at the apartment and drove up shortly after and met at the hospital.
We spent all of July 12th, July 13th (Elsie's first birthday) and most of July 14th in the pediatric ICU. Elsie fought an amazing fight! She smiled and was making nurses laugh! She was such a trooper! So many family visited in between naps - Elsie slept quite a bit from all the commotion.
Elsie developed beautifully! She made all milestones on time and some were early! She rolled and crawled and cooed and boy did she grow! She was a healthy exclusively breastfed baby. She spent many hours with family and friends! She was showed and surrounded by love and our family was fully supported by everyone we knew! McKenzie stayed home and took care of sweet Elsie.
Sarah worked at Oaklawn Psychiatric Center and later moved on to work at IU Health Goshen Hospital. We moved in March 2013 to a 2 bedroom apartment as our small 1 bedroom home was no longer providing sufficient room for our family. We loved the new apartment. Hated sharing walls but Elsie was continuing to thrive.
Elsie came down with a virus around the middle to end of May 2013, her first real sickness. She kept getting irritable and cranky and not liking her usual activities. A round of antibiotics didn't do much to help.
Sarah lost her job at the hospital unexpectedly, she worked part time at a bakery - but it wasn't enough. McKenzie found a job at Keystone RV and everything changed for this family of three! McKenzie went from stay at home mom of 11 months, to sole provider for the family. Sarah went from working full-time and solely supporting this family for the last 7 years to stay at home mom and wife. This transition was terrifying for both McKenzie and Sarah.
Elsie seemed to be affected by the change as well. Elsie became more and more irritable, her energy level decreased tremendously, and her interest in usual things changed. Sarah started to think Elsie didn't like Sarah being home with her. Then Elsie started getting sick, vomiting, on a nightly basis. We were so worried. We tried to avoid unnecessary E.R. tests and made several visits to our family doctor. All symptoms pointed to teething, but that diagnosis didn't suffice for us.
Then the nurse came in to start an IV he mentioned her sugar was high and they wanted to flush it out. Sarah asked how high (she was a nurse aide and took some nursing school courses and knew a thing or two about blood sugar) he said it was 457! Sarah about fell off the hospital bed!
Keep in mind NORMAL blood sugar is between 70-120!
We asked why it would be so high? And the nurse said the doctor would be in to talk to us about it. But that he thinks she has diabetes. Never in our wildest dreams had we ever heard someone being diagnosed with diabetes before a year of age. Of course we NEVER thought this would happen to us!! We cried and Sarah made sure Amma was on her way down. This was all just before midnight on July 11th. Grandpa Danny came to the E.R. to give support.
We contacted our doctor and explained what was going on. He said he'd visit the next day at the children's hospital. We were transferred to Memorial Children's Hospital in South Bend shortly after midnight. Sarah rode the ambulance with Elsie and McKenzie met up with Amma at the apartment and drove up shortly after and met at the hospital.
We spent all of July 12th, July 13th (Elsie's first birthday) and most of July 14th in the pediatric ICU. Elsie fought an amazing fight! She smiled and was making nurses laugh! She was such a trooper! So many family visited in between naps - Elsie slept quite a bit from all the commotion.
We made it home and had to figure out this diabetes situation out for ourselves. We had an excellent diabetes educator Noreen, without her we couldn't be where we today.
Elsie was diagnosed 6 months ago, and now we are on an insulin pump and doing great! I'll be sharing some favorite and not so favorite moments in this blog. We are a family striving to fight against diabetes and end in a cure for our beautiful little fighter! Shes amazing and everyday is a new adventure with Elsie & diabetes!!
Take Care,
Sarah, McKenzie, & Elsie
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